Embrace
by El Tofu-san
Summary: In which Soul becomes swamped with death scythe duties and Maka copes with his absence. So why is she in a cafe with Harver? MakaxSoul


**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, nor it's characters. This is a work of pure fiction. **

It's been three weeks since the bedroom on the other side of the apartment had been inhabited. Maka sighed. She knew this was coming, after she finished training her newly made deathscythe, it was only a matter of time before he was off doing solo missions. Maka did not want to admit it, but sometimes she regretted making her and her partner's dreams come true. She shook her head, no, she did not regret it; she just did not like the feel of an empty apartment.

Blair still lived with them, but her 'jobs' always kept her out late. These days, the only reminder of the purple cat was the disappearing fish in the fridge. Again she sighed. Soul usually phoned in when he was working overtime at Shibusen, last night was no different. He had just returned from his first solo mission a week ago, and since then Maka barely saw him. He was working hard, and even though the bags under his eyes darkened, she could tell that he was enjoying every moment of his new rank. She just wished that she did too.

Maka decided that she had enough moping for today. If she did not have someone to hang out with today, well then she will just have some fun on her own! She got up from the couch and covered her lacey-blue tank top with a fuzzy yellow cardigan that went past her miniskirt. Tying a scarf around her neck, Maka opened the door, and welcomed the cool fall breeze that wisped around her. She locked the door and headed down a path covered in colorful leaves that lead to Main Street. Maka turned a corner and strolled to the nearest coffee shop.

Soul felt grumpy, VERY grumpy.

Rewinding back a few minutes prior, he was elated to be released from his deathscythe duties for the day. In fact, he practically ran all the way home! After days of shacking up in the dingy bunk beds of the Shibusen cellars, he couldn't wait to feel the comfort of his own bed again. He was also looking forward to the welcome he would receive when he walked through the front door from his meister. Soul never liked being away from her; she calmed his soul, literally.

So fast-forwarding to the present, his frown line deepened when he realized that he was alone, again. Soul dropped his luggage at the front door, and went about confirming his meister's absence. He pouted like a child; the one thing he wanted most was to see his meister for the first time in weeks, and yet he was denied such a pleasure. With a sigh, he resigned to search for her later, right after a quick shower.

"Hey."

The blonde looked up, and recognized the lighting weapon by his deep voice.

"Oh, hey Harver, what brings you to Deathbucks?"

"Same reason as you." He gestured to her hand, that held a copy of The Giver, and motioned to his own, which held a light novel of a popular video game. He pulled out the metal chair opposite the scythe master, and sat down. Silence ensued, for Harver was never the most talkative Spartoi member, (that crown was worn by a certain blue haired monkey) but even now and then she would look up from the pages of her book and make eye contact with the weapon. It was a little unnerving how he can always wordlessly tell when one of his friends was acting out of character…

"Ugh, Soul's been out lately, and I've just been feeling a bit lonely in the apartment. I know what you're thinking, 'she's too dependent on her partner, she should train another weapon like Shinigami-sama suggested.' But I don't want to look for another partner. Soul's my weapon, and I'll never be able to establish the same connection I have with another person. It just wouldn't be the same, you know?" The intensity of her eyes bore holes in Harver's glasses.

A small smile etched onto his face, "I understand, I'd feel the same." With that, the French boy immersed himself back into his novel.

And just like that, Maka felt immensely better. Harver often exhibited Soul's overprotective behavior over their meisters, so it was only natural that Harver understood the girl's sense of lost of being separated from her partner for so long. Slightly embarrassed about spilling her guts to a guy she rarely speaks too, Maka covered her growing blush and sheepish smile behind the pages of her book.

After taking his time, Soul felt refreshed and ready to find the one person that would make his day even better. Soul exited the apartment complex, and after a few paces, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and concentrated on locating his master's soul. Fortunately her soul was nearby, so he jogged onto Main Street, prompted by the fluctuations of her wavelength. As he rounded a corner toward the Deathbucks coffee house, Soul was distastefully surprised to discover the holder of his affections with the demon lighting spear. If he didn't know any better, they looked like the perfect couple. This did not sit well with the white-haired boy. The demon scythe knew that Harver wasn't one to waste words on idle chat, but he seemed pretty engaged in conversation with Maka, well, as engaged as the stoic man could be. Soul was further displeased when he noticed that she blushed at something Harver said. The little green-eyed monster swelled in Soul's chest.

The door chimed his entrance into the coffee shop, and Soul lightly waved to the manager that greeted him. Naturally, Maka felt Soul's presence even before he walked into the warm cinnamon-smelling store, and he was rewarded with a full-on tackle from his smaller counterpart. _Finally…_

"Missed me?" He said as he buried his nose into the top of her hair. He couldn't fight back his smile as he wrapped his arms around her, and took a waft of her vanilla smelling shampoo.

"Shut it, you'll ruin the moment," She mumbled into his trench coat. He smirked.

"Yo." Soul looked up at the lighting weapon.

"Hey, what's up?" the deathscythe responded. Maka stepped away from Soul so that he could fist bump Harver in greeting.

He shrugged, "Just chillin'. See you, Maka."

"Oh, okay, see you later Harver." With a slight nod in the meister's direction, and the chime of the doorbell, the French weapon exited the coffee shop.

"So, what are you doing now?" Soul asked

"Nothing, why?"

He took her hand, "Let's do something together, just the two of us."

"O-Okay, movie and dinner?" Flustered Maka was so goddamn adorable.

"Sounds cool. You buying?" Hey, it was worth a shot.

"With your deathscythe salary, yes."

"I now know what Kid meant when he said, 'death by jointed bank accounts.'"

Hearing her voice through a phone did not do justice to the sweet melody of her laughter in person. Hand in hand, the duo strolled out of Deathbucks, and made their way to the movie theatre. And as she started to tell her weapon about what the rest of his friends were up to while he was away, he realized that maybe now was the time to breach the shaky topic of his feelings that extended beyond, "just friends." He did not know what he would do if she got a boyfriend while he was away. No, that's not true; one look at his sharp teeth and vermilion eyes usually did the trick.

**Hi! So I usually live under a cave and never upload stuff, but I wrote this a while ago and I found that I don't _hate_ it. So there you go! Hint hint: mycrackparingisHarverandMaka, but that's for _another _day. -Tofu-san**


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